Does the word ‘ukulele’ ring a bell? If it does, then, you need not look any further. But if you are among those, who are hearing this word for the first time, then read on as this post tries to unearth a trick or two or get the learner more tuned in to the altering […]

It’s not too late to RSVP for Radcom’s July book discussion. The author of The Unexpected: Breakthrough Strategies to Supercharge Your Business and Earn Loyal Customers for Life will be here to share in the discussion. Detail and registration are on the event’s page here.

If you are like me, you like to include cute clip art in blog posts, worksheets, parent letters, workshop handouts, etc. and always on the look out for great, free sites to use. Below are some of my favorite go to sites for stock images or clip art. As with all sites, be sure to […]

Join James Patterson and NBA Players Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki and other players for a webinar emphasizing the importance of reading. James Patterson and Dwayne Wade will host the webinar on Thursday, April 24, 2014 at 1pm EST where the author and NBA players will share how learning to read and being a […]

This month is ‘Mathematics Awareness Month’ and the website http://www.mathaware.org/ has some great ideas to help you celebrate Math Awareness Month with your students. There activities for all ages and videos to show students some really cool math card tricks. The theme this year is "Mathematics, Magic and Mystery". I highly encourage you to explore […]

From today to May 15th, people can vote for educators in a variety of categories nominated for a Bammy Award. What is a ‘Bammy Award’ you may ask? The Bammy Awards website describes the awards program as: Perhaps the greatest threat facing all educators today is the relentless national criticism of America’s public schools. The […]

Classrooms around the world will be celebrating ‘Earth Day’ in a variety of ways both online and offline. Below are some resources that are part of PBS’ line up of digital media resources from their ‘I <3 Earth from PBS LearningMedia. The I <3 Earth resources include: 1)    The Dirt on Dirt (Sid the Science […]

As we continue down this path, one should not underestimate the very positive impact these collaborative networks will have on the business culture. Big data that is shared within the Global Learning Portal opens doors of opportunity in the digital economy that can have a multiplier effect of the ROI of businesses aligned under a common vision. It is no secret that knowledge is the new currency of the 21st century but the trick is harnessing it at just the right time with an eye on the future and not looking back.Referring back to the previous Global Learning Portal diagram, one should notice that there is a collaborative connection between the Cross Disciplinary Research and Mentor Network and the Global Higher Education and Teacher Mentoring Network. The obvious question that needs to be asked is:"Why is a collaborative connection between these two networks necessary and what is the function?"Cross disciplinary research is vital to the training or mentoring of new educators. If you accept the idea that cross disciplinary learning is an essential mindset to solving real world problems then it is necessary that research in this area give direction to "educating the educator". Under the present compartmentalization mindset that exists now in many educational institutions, the approach to real world problem solving brings us back to the blind men trying to describe an elephant.Real world problems in the 21st century are more complex than in the past and ironically one of the reasons that they are more complex is because we are so connected to the world. Consider the real and present danger of terrorism and how social media and the Internet has made the impact of this threat even greater. Terrorists have their own websites to use to recruit others to their cause.Coming back to the collaborative connection, in return the data collected from the experience of mentoring educators and in turn the educators practical experience in modelling this mindset to learners in the online E-Learning portal, we are helped in two ways:From the data, new directions in research can be explored and pursued in regards to cross disciplinary learning keeping in mind that the new paradigm for research means that it needs to be ongoing, agile and adaptive, andFrom the data, we can discern areas of conflict and thus refine our pedagogical approaches.The mentoring of new educators and those who are transitioning from the industrial model mindset to the cross disciplinary mindset needs to be an ongoing collaborative relationship. The goal is to develop educators who will model and practice transformative teaching. The purposes of this transformative teaching are:Educate learners to be creators of new knowledge and skillsetsEducate learners to adopt innovative problem solving in seeking real solutions to complex real world problems. Instrumental to this is to promote an attitude for prolific and divergent thinking, andEducate learners to collaborate effectively in an online environment. Learners need to know how to access a variety of knowledge repositories online, evaluate their usefulness to the tasked problem and then apply the skillsets that each require. Learners need to be a little eclectic in using technology that meets the purpose and they need to know and capitalize on the talents of their co-collaborators.It should also be noted that big data from both of these networks feed back into the Global E-Learning Hub which then coordinates the data so that it is beneficial to advise and direct the learning culture of the business organizations. This is accomplished through the Global Corporate Trainers, ID and LPE Network whose primary function is to help businesses within the family of nations involved in the portal, to grow and innovate. As was pointed out at the beginning of this post, business in the digital economy stands to have many doors of opportunity opened if it has a vision that embraces a culture of true innovation.Are you ready for the journey?Next...E-Learning and Practical Steps to Realizing a Vision

 Global E-Learning: Removing the Walls Marshall McLuhan was once quoted as saying:" Once you see the boundaries of your environment, they are no longer the boundaries of your environment".Credit: www.mcluhan.net In E-Learning as it pertains to both the corporate learning culture and the institution of education, the walls of an old model that were once so confining are coming down. In this change, how we view the changing nature of learners' needs in a digital age will have a great impact on the type of age that is ushered in next. Anyone who thinks that this will just impact schooling is being naive because the impact will have a ripple effect on everything in life that has connection to how a society learns. This is not a prophecy but an assessment on the impacting technology, pedagogy and change elements which have already started to form a perfect storm.In the digital age there are two important characteristics about the learner that we need to understand because failure to do so negates the potential that they can bring to the developing global business culture and to the growth and health of the disciplines.Missing  Pieces to the Learning PuzzleLearners need an outlet for their ideas, thoughts and innovations in a global forum. In the past, education systems designed courses where a realistic situation was presented to learners, they discussed the scenario, arrived at potentially helpful solutions and then everything ended. Their ideas, thoughts and innovative solutions never made it past the four walls of the classroom. There were attempts in the late 20th century to connect classrooms to the outside world but this was not a consistently applied idea and very often it was included in the design as an enrichment activity. It was never considered to be an activity that was an important part of the main stream of the course. It was the reason why students complained that too often school was not part of the real world. Real connections were not there. Even the assessments that students endured were meant to produce compliance and conformity to skillsets that reflected past generations but included none of the digital literacy requirements of this age. The mantra of this type of schooling always began with the preamble: "...When you grow up, maybe you will be able to make valuable contributions to society but now........"Credit: www.onlinegrad.marygrove.eduA case in point is the story of a teacher who decided to have his class research the question:" Are the enclosures used for animals at the city zoo designed in such a way as to match the natural habitats of animals found in the wild?"The grade level for these students was grade 7. The time period was the late 1990's. The approach to the study of this issue was called the "Social Inquiry Process". Many of us are very familiar with this approach but one difference was that this particular government mandated approach had a social action component to it.Credit: www.txprofdev.orgThe students followed the research procedure to the letter and came to the conclusion that the zoo in question was not making the effort to provide natural habitats for their animals in many instances. They then reviewed the necessary characteristics for optimal conditions, as they had researched in the social science classes; they used  some selected animal examples and designed an environment that took into account space limitations that the zoo had. They then sent a proposal to the zoological society that had oversight and requested an opportunity to present their findings and speak to their recommendations at the next zoological meeting. This was" taking responsibility for their learning".  "They received a reply from the society which told them to stick to math, reading and writing and mind their own business." It didn't occur to the officials that the report they received had utilized all of these literacies in the best possible way. The conclusion to this story is that 1 yr. later these recommendations were put into practice and the zoological society received the recognition and accolades for coming up with such innovative solutions. Would a visionary thinker such as Steve Jobs have been encouraged to continue in such an environment and school system?The point is that: "We need learners in corporate organizations and education to be provided with the necessary encouragement and working conditions that will help develop the necessary mindset to harness change for all of our benefits."The situation described in the schooling example could very well be put into a corporate culture setting where employee ideas are stymied by not being provided a forum where they can have their ideas realistically heard and evaluated." In your corporate culture, what does learning look like?" Is it all about compliance training or do you have an eye on weaving innovative thinking into the fabric of where you do business?" A Second Missing piece of the Puzzle" Learners need to feel that what they have to offer is valued by decision makers, whether within education or business organizations."One of the simple realities of life in the 21st century is that for many people, the work that they do is what defines them. More on this in the next post........

There are three websites where you can register and people/organizations can donate money or resources to help fund your technology or classroom projects. The three that I know of that have helped hundreds of teachers are listed below. ClassWish has teachers create wishlists for supplies or resources they need for their classroom. The donors fill […]